1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing system, an information processing method, and a computer-readable storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there is an image forming apparatus provided with a clear toner that is a colorless toner without a color material, in addition to toners of four colors of C (cyan), M (magenta), Y (yellow), and K (black). A toner image formed with the clear toner is fixed onto a recording medium, such as a sheet of paper, on which an image is already formed with the CMYK toners, so that a visual effect or a tactual effect (hereinafter, referred to as “a surface effect”) can be realized on the recording medium.
The surface effect to be realized varies depending on how the clear toner is attached to the recording medium. Some surface effects simply apply glossy and other surface effects reduce glossy. In addition, there are different needs, such as a need to apply the surface effect to the whole surface, a need to apply the surface effect to a part of the surface, and a need to apply a texture or a watermark with the clear toner. There is also a need for surface protection.
Conventionally, there is a technology for obtaining glossy by using a clear toner in an area where glossy cannot be obtained due to unevenness of the adhesion amount of toners. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2011-123473 discloses a technology for forming a different transparent toner pattern for each of the glossy surface, semi-glossy surface, and non-glossy surface to realize glossy tones.
When a transparent image, such as a character, is formed by using a clear toner, an area where the transparent image is formed and an area where the surface effect, such as glossy, is realized may overlap each other. However, in the conventional technology, an overlapping area with the clear toner has not been coped with.
Therefore, there is a need for an information processing apparatus, an information processing system, an information processing method, and a computer-readable storage medium capable of easily forming a print image as desired by a user even when an area to which a clear toner is applied overlaps other area of the print image.